Canelo Alvarez Faces Apathy Of Fans Until He Fights Another Big Star – But Is It Fair?
Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez has announced his next super-middleweight world title defense will come against unbeaten contender Edgar Berlanga – and the reaction has been mixed.
Alvarez (61-2-2 39 KO) will face Berlanga (22-0-0 17 KO) on September 14 at the T Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. It could still be for the undisputed title, although reports claim the IBF is set to strip the Mexican of its title following his failure to fight mandatory challenger William Scull.
Still, the WBC, WBA, and WBO belts will be on the line as Canelo takes on an undefeated and powerful challenger in one of the world’s boxing capitals in front of a packed house.
“You have a young, unbeaten, fearless puncher ready to tackle one of the all-time greats – get ready for drama in Las Vegas,” Berlanga’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, said.
This should be an occasion for boxing fans to get excited about, right? Instead, it has been met with quite a lot of indifference, apathy, and in some cases, frustration and anger.
Benavidez The Opponent Fans Want To See
From the perspective of the critics, the negative reaction is founded largely on Canelo’s refusal to fight WBC interim champion David Benavidez, who unsuccessfully pursued a bout with the champion for more than two years.
Benavidez is viewed as potentially the biggest challenge to Alvarez’s reign as the super-middleweight king and a bout between the American and Mexican would be one of the biggest fights of the decade. Despite the widespread demand for the fight, Canelo simply wouldn’t budge, insisting he would not fight Benavidez for anything less than $150 million.
Alvarez’s stubbornness prompted Benavidez to ditch his super-middleweight ambitions and instead step up to light-heavyweight. He won on his 175lbs debut, and this week stated that he would remain in the division, motivated in part by WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman’s guarantee that he would fight for the world title in 2025.
The blame for Alvarez v Benavidez not happening has been laid firmly at the feet of the Mexican, and the announcement of Canelo fighting anyone considered on a lower tier was always going to be met with negativity.
At an exciting time for boxing when the big fights are getting made more regularly than at any time in the past 20 years, Canelo’s refusal to fight the best possible opponent arguably makes him look out of step with the evolving new dynamic of the fight game.
Is The Era Of Canelo Mega-Fights Over?
However, Canelo’s supporters will argue that, as the biggest star in the sport and after 66 professional fights over a 19-year career, he has earned the right to pick and choose his opponents at will.
Canelo has spent most of his career fighting the very best, including a trilogy against former middleweight king Gennady Golovkin, a prime Floyd Mayweather, and numerous world champions. He’s won world titles in four divisions from super-welterweight to light-heavyweight, and his only defeat since losing to Mayweather 11 years ago was to the brilliant Dimitry Bivol at 175lbs.
In some ways, it has made Canelo a victim of his own success; fans have become so accustomed to him being involved in mega fights that his opponents over the past two years have failed to match expectations.
The big question now is whether we will see Canelo involved in one of those massive fights again. The Mexican is such a huge superstar that he will carry pay-per-view bouts for as long as he’s active, and it’s not like he’s fighting journeymen; the likes of Berlanga and previous opponents Jaime Munguia and Jermell Charlo were all either world champions or No 1-ranked contenders.
Boxing is a brutal business and Canelo, who has secured his Hall of Fame legacy and accumulated untold wealth, has earned every right to choose who he fights. Whether fans will be happy about being denied at least one more Canelo mega-bout – preferably against Benavidez – is another matter.